RESULTS of a 2010 survey showed that about 1.9 million Filipino children aged 5 to 17, or 6.3% of the population in this age range, were working.
More than a third of the working children belonged to the lowest per capita income bracket, according to the National Statistics Office report on the Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS).
“The main factor that contributes to the number of working children is poverty. There are other factors that contribute to this issue such as lack of access to schools and educational facilities and poor health and nutrition. However, these other factors can still be traced back to poverty,” Jesus M. Macasil, Jr., director of the International Labour Organization-International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour Towards a Child Labour Free Philippines, told BusinessWorld.
Among the regions, Northern Mindanao had the highest incidence of child labor, with 13.2% of its population aged 5 to 17 found to be working. It was followed by Bicol region (10.7%), Zamboanga Peninsula (10.1%), Cordillera Administrative Region (9.9%), and Cagayan Valley (9.4%).
Metro Manila had the lowest incidence at 0.9%.
“The lack of income opportunities in rural areas is mainly responsible for the high percentage of working children especially in agriculturally dependent regions,” Mr. Macasil said.
Survey results also showed that nearly 7 in 10 working children were males. Mr. Macasil noted that boys do most of the farming work, while girls shoulder domestic chores.
More than half of the working children were unpaid family workers. Nine in 10 child laborers aged 5-11 were unpaid.
Meanwhile, 40.2% of children working in the Philippines were wage and salary workers employed in private households, establishments, family-operated businesses, and even government offices.
Mr. Macasil said surveys on working children should be conducted on a regular basis as a first step in decreasing the incidence of child labor.
“Second, the poverty issue needs to be addressed through government investment on social and economic projects that would benefit those who really need it,” he said.
More than 20,000 household heads were interviewed in August 2010 for the APIS. — Luis Nonito Q. Pasuelo, Businessworld
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